15 Free SEO Tools Freelancers and Agencies Use

Been wondering which free SEO Tools agencies use in the back-end?

Well, this article is for you.

I came to findout that a number of you are on a search to figure-out how to implement your own SEO strategies and this needs you to have the right tools to assist you through the process.

In this article, I will base everything on the free (completely) available tools you can use to implement your SEO goals. These tools are available for free worldwide and to everyone.

So, what then?

As of writing this post, there are chunk of free SEO tools out there. Just to give you a hint, Brain Dean from Backlinko tested out 188 SEO tools.

Personally, I have been using a couple of them for a while and during my whole time working with one of the digital agencies in Kampala.

If you have any of these questions, then you’re on the right track

  1. What are the best ways to boost your position in search engines?
  2. What keywords should you use on my webpages or blog posts?
  3. Which tools should you use to improve the quality of backlinks?
  4. How to compete on a particular keyword?
  5. How to get your website or blog to page one based on your target keyword?

Little but important notes to take

Search engines, Google, Yahoo, Bing among others constantaly change there algorithm. This is simply because they want the most relevant results to be displayed.

To stay relevant and top of the search engine result pages (SERPs), here are tips to get more “love” from search engines.

    1. Not Black Hat SEO tactics: Don’t implement any black hat seo strategies from those so called SEO gurus. Otherwise, you’ll be blacklisted and burned by search engines. Say Google.
    2. Target keywords: This will help you write in a meaningful way to accomplish what your audience is searching for and give you the content to improve your chances of ranking as well.
    3. Stay up to-date: You need to equip yourself with recent algorithm changes and search engine updates. Like the recent mobile first index.

So, let’s dive straight in,

To Read: Automate Website Monitoring with SiteMonki

 

Here are the free SEO tools a number of SEO and digital agencies use

But hey, one thing you need to know is that, any SEO tool is as good as it’s user. It’s like how painters use the same painting brush, but the results are way different.

The tools in this list can be used by anyone from beginner to experts. The learning curve and results achived may differ.

1. Google Search Console / Webmaster 

google search console dashboard

Google Webmaster is one of the best free SEO tool out there if not the best.

Bundled with a couple of tools that give you insight on a number of search features like, site errors, broken links, backlinks, site maps, crawl stats among others, this allows you to monitor the indexing status of your website.

Among what I love most about the search console is the ability to submit my published articles directly to Google for indexing as fast as the bot can. This is done under the fetch as Google tab.

google search console

Using the GSC, you’re also in position to see what keywords people are using to find your site and their click-through rates.

Google Search Console is a must-use tool that helps you visualize how your site may appear in search and teaches you how to influence different appearance elements.

It also provides you with crawling errors, html improvement suggestions, and much more.

The best thing today about Google Webmaster Tools is it’s new user-friendly dashboard.

You can easily extract useful information out of this dashboard and use it for the development and execution of your SEO campaign.

 

2. Bing Webmaster Tools 

Bing search stands at the top among the best search engines after google and Youtube.

With Webmaster Tool for its users, Bing gives you insights on a number things such as links, index, clicks etc.

According to some Big users, they mention that Bing Search keywords data is more reliable than Google webmaster.

Even though Bing doesn’t generate traffic as Google, you shouldn’t ignore it. Bing Webmaster Tools will be able to provide an excellent assistance to you with getting your website ranked on top of Bing.

Bing Webmaster Tools can provide useful insights to you, such as indexing, crawling and on-page optimization.

In addition, it will share knowledge on how you can improve the performance of your website.

To Read: 5 Best WordPress Plugins

 

3. Google Analytics

analytics google dashboard

Google Analytics provides detailed statistics about a website’s traffic and traffic sources.

In the Dashboard, you can view these statistics for any period of time of your choosing like;

· The Audience report provides demographic information about your audience, including which country they visited from and which language they speak.

· The Traffic Sources overview will tell you how many visitors to your website came from search engines, direct visits, social networks, or referring sites.

· The Content report shows you which pages of your website are attracting the most traffic; you can see metrics such as the number of visits, average visit duration, bounce rate, and % new visits for each and every page on your website.

· The Conversions report shows you how many of your goals (e.g. form submission, sales) have been completed and the conversion rate for each one.

The most valuable SEO data is that which helps you better understand your visitors and how they interact with your site.

No tool quite delivers that data like Google Analytics, and none of the previous tools mentioned does a better job providing data that helps you understand the number that matters most.

To Read: How To Import An Ms Word .Docx Into WordPress Posts And Pages

 

4. AdWords Keyword Tool 

ads google

 

This is a basic keyword research tool that will assist you to look for keyword competition and country wise keyword popularity.

It is a user-friendly tool because it has the ability to analyze websites out there on the Internet and provide you with a list of best keywords for your website.

Google Keyword Planner can be considered as one of the best tools available for you to search for rich keywords.

In other words, Keyword Planner has come to the list of best free SEO tools because of its ability to help you discover highly effective keywords.

With Keyword Planner, you will not be able to find just new keywords. In addition, you will be able to discover new keyword ideas and figure out the traffic estimates associated with each keyword.

This tool will show you the selected keyword/key phrase opposition, worldwide month to month searches, and neighborhood month to month scans for each keyword you check.

On this basis you can conclude for which keywords you should target in the content.

 

5. Google Trends 

trends google

The Google trend can be used to find where most of the searches for Any search term are coming from.

There is a related terms section, which suggests related keywords for you based on popularity.

Preparing your content strategy around what people are searching (and from where) for is a good way to boost your rankings.

Correctly predicting the future moves of your opponent in chess is essential for victory. The same came said for marketers in their industry.

Knowing where your market is heading gives marketers a huge advantage. Here, Google Trends can lend you a helping hand.

Google Trends shows changes in search volume for different topics, search terms, and entities.

Mastering this tool can keep your content current and one step ahead of the competition.

For search marketing, it just makes good sense to analyze changes in search query behavior. Even everyday bloggers and digital marketers  can improve their results by understanding which topics are trending.

To Read: 7 Steps To Build A Great Website Without Coding

 

6. Smart SEO Tools

smartseotools org

This is a platform bundled with over 10 useful free SEO tools.

From a unique content checker, unique content rewriter, keyword position, online ping website tool.

There are also a number of other free online SEO tools for articles and videos for both new and experienced webmasters. Such as the reverse image search, plagiarism checker, backlink checker etc..

 

7. Small SEO Tools

keeyword tool - smallseotools

Just like the smart SEO tools, there isn’t much difference in these two platforms.

The same or similar tools are in both platforms and are all free to use all time.

Though, small SEO tools is bundled with ads everywhere, the results on what you’re looking for are convincing.

The best feature I love about both platforms is the reverse image search.

 

8. Google Correlate

google correlate

This tool shows the keywords that tend to get searched for together. It finds search patterns which correspond with real-world trends.

It is most used by article writers and content marketing agencies.

Google correlate makes it way more easier to look up phases that are used or searched by search engine users together and the results are resourceful.

This amazing platform is powered by Google itself.

To Read: Why I Switched To Hello Elementor Theme

 

9. Mobile-Friendly Test by Google

google mobile test

Have you had about the mobile first indexing update from Google?

Search giants are down-ranking websites that don’t perform well on mobile. And, there is a huge loss in traffic and visitors.

According to the guardian,

Mobile web browsing has been steadily growing since 2009, while the desktop’s share of web traffic has steadily decreased.

In October, the two crossed over, with global mobile and tablet browsing accounting for 51.3% versus the desktop’s 48.7%, according to the latest data from web analytics firm StatCounter.

So, if your website is not mobile responsive, you’ll not only be deindexed but also miss out on the direct mobile visitors.

With this tool, you’re able to test your website’s mobile responsiveness and be in position to see where to fix and how.

 

10. Google Page Speed Insights 

page speed insights by google

I have been using Google PageSpeed Insights for years now. This tool enables you to test your website speed on both desktop and mobile.

It also suggestes on the possible changes you could make on your website to even make it faster by either optimizing your website images, browser cache etc.

You should also know that page load speed is one of the ranking factors.

To Read: 15 Paid SEO Tools Freelancers and Agencies Use

 

11. GTMetrix

gtmetrix - gotechug

Just like Google page speed insight, GTMetrix is another speed guru on the block.

Unlike page speed insight, with GTMetrix, you’are able to test and optimize your website speed and see how fast in seconds it can be accessed, page size etc.

Just like I said eairler, managing how fast your page loads impacts directly on SEO, as well as the user experience.

 Your can also use GTMetrix to examine, diagnose, spot improvement and also know how you can further polish your website.

The inputs provided by GTMetrix will help you to polish your website further and ensure top rankings in the search results.

It is also possible for you to compare the performance of your website with your competitors via GTMetrix.

 

12. XML Sitemaps

xml sitemaps com

Sitemaps are very crutal in the website industry. Without your website sitemap available in the search engines, no one will find you. Sitemaps contain the direct links to pages, posts and attachments available at your website.

So, its very important to submit your website sitemap to search engines for indexing.

With this tool, you can generate your website sitemap easily and freely.

 

13. Free Broken Link Checker

brokenlinkcheck

Broken links are some of the faults that halt your SEO rankings. That means, fixing your brocken links can greaty impact and impove your SEO.

With this tool, you’re able to checkout for all the broken links on your website, be it attachments, blogs or pages, they’ll all show up.

By doing so, you’ll get to know what and where to apply fixes.

 

14. Social Blade 

socialblade

YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, & Instagram Statistics – This tool is good to spy on your competitors. It will give you the details of monthly views, subscribers, and earnings of a YouTube channel.

 

15. Plagiarism Checker Tool

smallseotools com

This list wouldn’t be complete without giving a mention to the free plagiarism checker. This tool works just like copyscape.

With it, you’re able to paste text into a form or attach a document, then scan through the text or document for any cases of plagiarism.

I have used it and it works like charm. So you won’t have to spend a penny to just check plagiarized content in a page, article or document.

Since google and other search engines have become very strict about duplicate and plagiarized content. It’s always a good idea to run your content through this tool before posting on the website. 

To Read: 100 Computer Facts I Learned Online

In closing:

Perhaps you’re asking why the list is dominated with tools from google.
Yes,this is probably because of two major reasons.
  • First, google is the leading search engine according to Wikipedia and search engine watch making tools released by the giant to easily gain trust and biggest user base.
  • Second, I have been using couple of those tools in the last 3-4 years in my digital career and they’ve been of great help.
  • Third, a great number of SEO tools from Google are used. Who doesn’t love free stuff anyway?
I wish to know if there is a tool you know about that missed out in this list. Let me know that and more in the comment box below.

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Hamza
Hamza
Hamza comes from a design background with over 10years of experience in Web and Media design. He enjoys making web design videos on his YouTube channel GoTechUG. He also writes web design articles on this website. In his free time, Hamza loves riding a bicycle, swimming or going hiking.

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